Tenant Services Committee (TSC) Meeting - January 29, 2018

Public Agenda

9:40 - Chair’s Remarks

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: Chair

9:45 - Consent agenda

Approval of Public Meeting Agenda

Action: TSC Approval

Pre-read: Agenda

Presenter: Chair

Chair’s Poll re: Conflict of Interest

Action: Declaration

Pre-read: Agenda and Conflict of Interest Policy

Presenter: Chair

Confirmation of the Public Meeting Minutes of November 13, 2017

Action: TSC Approval

Pre-read: Minutes

Presenter: Chair

Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update

Action: Information

Pre-read: Action Item List

Presenter: Chair

Reports from OCHE

9:50 - Terms of Reference Update

Action: TSC and Board Approval

Pre-read: TSC:2018-05

Presenter: Commissioner of Housing Equity

10:00 - 2017 Work Plan – Performance Report

Action: TSC and Board Approval

Pre-read: TSC:2018-01

Presenter: Commissioner of Housing Equity

10:10 - Quarterly Performance Report (Q4-2017)

Action: Information

Pre-read: TSC:2018-02

Presenter: Commissioner of Housing Equity

10:20 - Tenant Satisfaction Survey Action Plan

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: Director, Strategic Planning & Stakeholder Relations

10:30 - TSC 2018 Work Plan (Deferred from November 13, 2017 Meeting)

Action: TSC Approval

Pre-read: RSC:2017-61

Presenter: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

10:40 - Update on Tenant Forum

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: Vice President, Resident and Community Services

TERMINATION

Public Meeting Minutes

The Tenant Services Committee (“TSC”) of Toronto Community Housing Corporation (“TCHC”) held a public meeting on January 29, 2018, in the Main Floor Conference Room, 931 Yonge Street, Toronto, and by teleconference commencing at 9:56 a.m.

Committee Directors Present:

Linda Jackson, Chair

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, Vice Chair (via teleconference)

Robert Carlo (via teleconference)

Catherine Wilkinson

Committee Directors not Present:

Councillor Michael Ford

Management present:

Marta Asturi, Legal Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary

Angela Cooke, Vice President, Resident and Community Services

Hugh Lawson, Director, Strategic Planning & Stakeholder Relations

Graham Leah, Vice President, Asset Management

Cynthia Summers, Commissioner of Housing Equity

A quorum being present, Ms. Jackson, the TSC Chair, called the public meeting to order and Mr. Steven Iserhoff served as recording secretary.

Deputations

Verbal deputations were received at the meeting from the following persons:

• Item 2D: William Lohman
• Item 3A: Alan Duddin 
• Item 3A: Robert Frederickson

Item 1 - Chairs Remarks

The Chair and Management discussed the recently-published Toronto Ombudsman Report. The following was noted:

• The Ombudsman will present the report at the TCHC Board Meeting on February 23, 2018;
• TCHC accepts and agrees with all recommendations in the report; and
• TCHC is committed to implementing all of the recommendations, and in doing so there will be consultation with many stakeholders including the City of Toronto, Toronto Public Health, Toronto Police Service and tenant consultation.

Consent Agenda Items

Item 2A - Approval of Public Agenda

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Mr. Carlo and carried, the TSC approved the public meeting agenda.

Item 2B - Declaration of Conflict of Interest

The Chair requested members of the TSC to indicate any agenda item in which they had a conflict of interest, together with the nature of the interest. None were declared.

Item 2C - Confirmation of the Resident Services Committee November 13, 2017 Public Meeting Minutes

The TSC had before it the draft public minutes for the public meeting held on November 13, 2017.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Councillor Di Giorgio and carried, the TSC confirmed the above-captioned minutes without amendment.

Item 2D - Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update

William Lohman deputed the item.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Councillor Di Giorgio and carried, the TSC received the report for information.

Item 3A - Terms of Reference Update

The TSC had before it the above-captioned report (TSC:2018-05).

Alan Duddin and Robert Frederickson deputed the item.

Cynthia Summers, Commissioner of Housing Equity (“Commissioner”) presented the report.

Regarding the changes to the Office of Commissioner of Housing Equity’s (“OCHE”) terms of reference, the TSC discussed the following:

• independence and integrity of the OCHE; 
• Dispute resolution function of the Board; and
• Rationale for the President and Chief Executive Officer to provide comments on the quarterly reports.

The TSC agreed to receive the comments today and review once more with the TSC before it goes to the Board.  The TSC Chair requested TSC members to circulate any additional comments offline. 

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Councillor Di Giorgio and carried, the TSC received the report for information.

Item 3B - 2017 Work Plan – Performance Report, TSC:2018-01

The TSC had before it the above-captioned report (TSC:2018-01)

Cynthia Summers, the Commissioner, presented the report.
The TSC and the Commissioner discussed the report and the following points emerged:

• The TSC thanked the OCHE for its work in 2017; and 
• The TSC applauded the OCHE’s ability to reach an engagement rate with tenants of 94.5%.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Mr. Carlo and carried, the TSC received the report for information.

Item 3C - Quarterly Performance Report (Q4-2017), TSC:2018-02

The TSC had before it the above-captioned report (TSC:2018-02)

The TSC and the Commissioner discussed the report and the following points emerged:

• The Commissioner noted that her office does not track if a tenant continues to pay rent regularly after the tenant has worked with OCHE;
• The Commissioner noted that she expects the new OCHE website to be fully functional by fall 2018; and
• The Commissioner noted that tenant input has been a major component in the development of the new OCHE website.

The TSC, Commissioner and Management discussed Attachment 2 of the report and the following points emerged:

Management Action 1

• Management confirmed that after reviewing all files referred to OCHE where there was a delay in service of the N4, no root cause was determined; and
• Management noted that because no root cause was determined, it will be undertaking an “end-to-end” workload analysis for Tenant Service Coordinators.

Management Action 2

• Management noted that it is working with the OCHE to attempt to project how many files will be referred to the OCHE, and although Management cannot determine a specific number of referrals it can confirm that the number of referrals may increase.

Management Action 3

• Management noted that an evaluation of the Tenant Service Coordinator Service Delivery Model has not begun yet as the evaluation is a component of collective bargaining with CUPE Local 79, which is currently underway.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Mr. Carlo and carried, the TSC received the report for information.

Item 4 - Tenant Satisfaction Survey Action Plan, Verbal Report

Hugh Lawson, Director, Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Relations, delivered a PowerPoint presentation that was circulated to the TSC.

The presentation outlined action items that resulted from the 2017 Tenant Survey.

The TSC and Management discussed the report and the following points emerged:

• The TSC suggested that tenants’ input be used for programs such as developing the Vendor Performance Evaluation TSC Policy as tenants are the ones that are the end user of the vendors’ deliverables; and
• Management committed to conducting the tenant survey on an annual basis.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Mr. Carlo and carried, the TSC received the report for information.

Item 5 - TSC 2018 Work Plan (Deferred from November 13, 2017 Meeting), RSC:2017-61

The TSC had before it the above-captioned report (RSC:2017-61).

The TSC discussed whether the work plan should be more specific as opposed to high-level strategic matters, and the frequency of TSC meetings throughout the year.

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Councillor Di Giorgio and carried, the TSC resolved to approve the following recommendation:

1. Approve the draft 2018 TSC Work Plan.

Item 6 - Update on Tenant Forum, Verbal Report

Angela Cooke, Vice President, Resident and Community Services, delivered a PowerPoint presentation that was circulated to the TSC.

The presentation outlined the successes and challenges of the 2017 Tenant Conference. The TSC and Management discussed the presentation, with multiple topics arising from the discussion.

Tenant Forum

• The TSC indicated it was pleased with the Tenant Forum and that it looks forward to the next Tenant Forum in 2018; and 
• Management noted that due to the short time it had to plan and execute the 2017 Tenant Forum, tenant engagement in planning it was limited. Management noted that in 2018, it will work towards having more tenant engagement in planning and maximize tenant participation.

Tenant Representatives

• Management noted that the tenure for tenant representatives will be extended from March 31, 2018, and there will be a tenant replacement model deployed. 

Tenant Engagement System Refresh

• The TSC requested that Management provide an update on the Tenant Engagement System Refresh. 

ACTION ITEM

Provide update on Tenant Engagement System Refresh

TERMINATION

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Councillor Di Giorgio and carried, the RSC resolved to terminate the public meeting at 11:16 a.m.